Suna's Wind Demon
by Nightangel52
Summary: Tired of watching his village being pushed around and his loved ones killed, Takaei decides to become a shinobi and destroy all of the enemies that stand before him. Watch as Takaei shakes the shinobi world to its very core and becomes the strongest shinobi to ever come from the Village Hidden in the Sands, the Wind Demon of Suna. Please rate and review so I can improve my story.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other anime, all rights belong to their respective owners. Also, I have always been confused by the format of Japanese names, so in this story it will be the first name followed by the last name and I am taking liberties with everyones' ages.**

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The hospital of the Village Hidden in the Sands was filled with screams of pain and anguish as a lone woman laid on an operating table, surrounded by doctors rapidly trying to keep her from bleeding out. The woman was very plain looking, with pale blond hair and tan skin, her normally vibrant blue eyes now showing nothing but pain.

"Where is he, where is that bastard?!" the woman yelled, grabbing the nearest doctor and almost giving him a heart attack.

The doctor stammered and looked away sadly before being pushed aside by the woman's closest friend and one of Suna's best shinobi, Kaneko Okabe.

"Move aside doctor and keep my friend alive," Kaneko said firmly, a harsh look in her brown eyes before holding the woman's hand. "Don't worry Ichi, I'm sure Toshiyori will be back soon. He had that important mission remember?"

"Right… right…" Ichi said softly, before tightening Kaneko's hand with a chakra empowered grip.

"Don't worry, you can get through this, just keep pushing," she said soothingly, looking around worriedly as doctors became more and more frantic. With a final cry of pain, a new cry filled the air, and Ichi's eyes lit up in joy before fading fast.

"Thank god… I did it… Take care of him please… take care of my Takaei…" Ichi said weakly, her hand finally falling from Kaneko's grip.

"Ichi?! Ichi?!" Kaneko screamed, being pushed back by the doctors as they got to work. There, in the middle of a crowded birthing room and with nothing but the sound of her baby and the panicked doctors, Ichi Seki died.

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 **(4 years later)**

"Come on Sasori! You're too slow!" a young voice laughed as two young boys ran through the streets of the Village Hidden in the Sands, Sunagakure. The voice belonged to a young boy with a light brown t-shirt and beige cargo plants. His slightly blonde hair ruffled in the wind as he surveyed his surroundings with laughing brown eyes, a bright smile covering his childish face as he avoided the passerby in the street.

"Nii-chan, waiiiiiiit!" a red haired toddler yelled as he ran towards the other child on small, chubby legs. Takaei continued to laugh but stopped in front of a bookstore while his younger brother finally caught up to him.

"Come on Sasori, how are you going to be a powerful ninja if you can't even run that fast?" Takaei teased, ruffling Sasori's hair when he finally caught up to him.

"Shut up, nii-chan! I'm going to be the best shinobi in the world! Then I'll make it to where mom and dad never have to leave again!" the young Sasori declared before widening his eyes. In the middle of his speech, Takaei had ran off towards the gates again, leaving him in the dust. With a glare he began to charge towards his evil big brother again, ignoring the chuckles of the villagers around him.

Takaei, meanwhile was having a blast tormenting his little brother, right up until he ran into the last person he wanted to. His eyes started at the white sandals in the sand, no worries there, everyone in Suna wears sandals. They then rose to look at the large brown cloak/dress thing that caused his heart to nearly stop. When they reached the white poncho the boy was pretty sure that his heart HAD stopped and then finally they rested on the glaring face belonging to his dear grandmother.

"O-oh hi Grandma Chiyo! Fancy meeting you here!" he chuckled softly before his chuckles died down to a whimper at the overpowering glare.

"Fancy indeed…. Especially considering the fact that I told you to watch over Sasori at the house," Chiyo growled before catching sight of a young Sasori, who abruptly stopped and attempted backing away slowly before running at a full blown sprint.

"No! Ototou! Her vision is based on movement!" he yelled, stopping as he felt a murderous presence behind him.

"What was that Takaei-kun?" Chiyo asked sweetly, her eyes gaining a treacherous glint as Takaei gulped.

"You know… I just remembered… the kazekag- yea! The kazekage wanted to know about my progress in the academy and wanted me to bring along Sasori too, what with him being the grandson of the founder of the puppet brigade!" Takaei said under the unimpressed gaze of Chiyo.

Chiyo hummed for a second before quickly grabbing Takaei by the colar of his shirt and walking towards where Sasori had stopped after his Nii-chan's declaration. "Well, I'll just go with you to meet him then, won't I?" she asked sweetly, making Takaei sweat profusely, and not from the sun.

While he was being carried to his impending doom, Takaei took a moment to survey his beloved village. It was the village his parents were fighting for, the one his original father had died for! He enjoyed looking at the vibrant art in the various galleries, the fruits and carpets in the marketplace, he especially liked watching the shinobi use their techniques in the various training fields. He just wished his parents could watch it all with him…

"Grandma why do mom and dad always have to go fight?" Takaei asked, suddenly solumn.

Chiyo sighed and looked up at the sky for a second before finally deciding on the right words to say. "Well, you know that we border the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers, right?"

"Ye- I mean yes, Grandma, we were just taught that at the academy, though I wish they taught us more useful stuff…" Takaei said, wilting under Chiyo's glare.

"Just wait, you need to learn the basics first. Anyway, a long time ago, not long after the hidden villages were founded, the First Hokage, the peace loving fool that he was, decided to give away some fertile land to our village so that we could have some farmland. What he didn't think of was what his brother would do once he died. He didn't like the fact that Suna got some of Konoha's vast land for free, so he decided he was going to covertly "steal it back". We Suna nin didn't really like that so we sent shinobi over there as a deterrent to keep Konoha away. After a few years of being unable to take "their land" back, the Third Hokage, the Second's student, decided it was fine as long as it wasn't an enemy who kept the land. Now the Land of Rivers is helping Konoha try to steal the land, so we constantly need shinobi over there to fight back. Do you understand?"

Takaei did not say anything for a few seconds, instead adopting his legendary "thinking pose" with his chin between his fingers and his other arm on his hip, despite the fact he was still dangling from Chiyo's grip. "I think so… but why don't we just invade Rivers and Konoha if they won't leave us alone?"

"Bah," Chiyo spat before turning a new glare towards the path they were walking on, one that Takaei prayed wasn't meant for him. "We just aren't strong enough. Konoha has tons of clans and legendary fighters in their name and Rivers isn't weak either. The only clans we had besides the kazekage's either rebelled and were destroyed like the Shirogane Clan or just aren't very strong, like the Hoki Clan. That's why I founded the Puppet Brigade, to finally give the village an edge that the others don't."

"That's so cool Grandma!" Takaei said, stars slowly forming in his eyes. "You're going to make Sunagakure the strongest village in the world! And when I'm a shinobi, I'm going to help you make Suna so strong, that no-one will dare attack us again!"

"Well said young man, I look forward to your future progress," a deep voice said idly. Takaei hesitantly looked away from Chiyo and widened his eyes as he saw the Third Kazekage standing in front of them in all of his glory.

"Ah… Kenjiro, just the man I wanted to see," Chiyo smiled, ignoring Takaei's insistent struggling in her hand.

The kazekage sighed and sent a halfhearted glare towards Chiyo, "Sensei, you really should try to be more formal, I'm kazekage now, its disrespectful…"

"Ha! No matter what you turn up as, you'll always be my little Kenjiro who fell for the easiest trap in the world!"

Kenjiro simply sighed and turned to the Sand ANBU behind him, "We really should plan our routes better, running into Chiyo-sensei is always a headache…"

Chiyo simply laughed while Takaei looked at the both of them in confusion. The fact that they were sensei and student was not really common knowledge. The ages DID match up, what with Chiyo being in her forties and the kazekage in his twenties.

"Anyway, I was just coming to see you Kenjiro-kun. You see, this little troublemaker said that he was running around the village looking for you! Apparently, you wanted to see the grandchild of the 'great' Chiyo-sama and he was an escort. Do you know anything about that?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," the kazekage responded in a bland tone, as dry as the sand he was standing on.

"You do?" both Chiyo and Takaei asked, before Takaei wisely decided to keep his mouth shut after a glare from the kazekage.

"Yes, I do, thank you for bringing the two of them here Chiyo-sensei, you can leave them with me for now."

"I-I see, if you say so Kenjiro-kun," she said shakily, before dropping the two boys like potato sacks. "Anyway, I guess I'll be off now, I'm not as young as I used to be." With that comment, Chiyo walked back to do… whatever it was she had been doing, Takaei never really paid attention unless he wanted to bother her.

When Chiyo was safely out of hearing distance, the kazekage glared down at Takaei, "So, what was it that you really wanted to do that made you use ME as an excuse?"

Takaei gulped and stared down at the sand below him, Sasori already moving behind Takaei in fear. "W-well, we saw Grandma Chiyo get a letter from where my parents were, so we stole it and it said that their bodies would be returned to the village today. We know that it's a strange way to say they're coming home, we just wanted to see them again after so long, and we knew that Grandma wouldn't let us stay there all day, so I just used the first excuse that came to mind."

Kenjiro looked down at the boy in pity before recognition flashed in his eyes, Takaei was holding back tears as he stared at his leader's cold visage. Takaei wasn't stupid, he was going to be a shinobi after all, he just knew that the kazekage would do a better job of explaining it to Sasori than he could, and he also knew that Chiyo would probably just put it off to save their feelings. The kazekage sighed before dropping to a knee and leaning towards Takaei.

"You're a brave kid, I'll be proud to have you as a shinobi," he whispered before moving away and looking at both of the boys.

"Kazekage-sama yo-" Kenjiro's escort began before being silenced with a wave of his hand.

"Silence, we can clean the robe later," he said ignoring the dust staining the pristine robe. "Until then, I haven't finished my walk, would you two boys like to join me?"

Sasori cheered and nodded with gusto, while Takaei simply smiled shakily and took one of the kazekage's outstretched hands. There was no need to put on an act around the man, he could see that he knew.

The four continued walking down the streets of Sunagakure, the kazekage nodding and waving softly to his subjects with his free hand, tightening his grip on Takaei's whenever he did so for some reason. Meanwhile, Sasori and the ANBU were having a rather animated conversation about what shinobi life was like. Well… animated on Sasori's side at least.

Eventually, the four men walked into a dango stand near the gates of the village, the kazekage ordering three orders of dango after a questioning look from the girl behind the counter.

"That was a brave thing you did Takaei, but why did you act like you didn't know around Chiyo-sensei?" Kenjiro asked bluntly, not the kind of man to beat around the bush.

"I-I just didn't want her to worry…" Takaei muttered sadly. "I mean, she just lost her daughter, and I know her, she would rather just pretend it didn't happen than crush Sasori's heart like that. Besides, I don't want her to look at me any differently because I know, I want things to stay the same…"

"I see…" Kenjiro muttered to himself before looking at Takaei with a serious expression. "Earlier, you said that you wanted to be a shinobi. Shinobi have to make hard decisions every day, and your career will be no different. Also, I will forgive your actions due to your grief, but using your leader as an excuse to get out of trouble is usually frowned upon," Kenjiro said with a severe frown, watching Takaei squirm. "Sasori needs to know, I would hate to see how he would turn out if he figured it out on his own. Consider this your first mission, explain the situation to Sasori, good luck young man. Now, I must go befo-" Kenjiro rolled his eyes as he was cut off by a voice behind the group.

"Tou-san, you're late," a severe voice said, and Takaei was surprised to see that it belonged to a child a little older than him, with auburn hair and dark eyes glaring at him. He wore a green cloak with a white poncho covering his neck and shoulders and Takaei could see that he was trying to copy his father's attire without being too obvious.

"The kazekage is never late, the people he meets with are just early," Kenjiro said softly, pulling some ryo out of his pocket and laying it on the table before looking at Takaei. "Don't misunderstand my previous statement Takaei-kun, the mission is not optional. If you do not explain it to him, then I will, and I have been told that I can be much less… sympathetic when doing so."

With that final command, the kazekage left with his escort and the auburn haired boy, who continued to glare at Takaei until he was well out of sight.

"Sorry about that kid, kazekage-sama can be a little… tense around others," the girl behind the counter said softly. "He means well though, and he's right, the kid has to know," she continued, ignoring Sasori's confused look.

"I have to know what?" he asked innocently, staring up at Takaei with clear grey eyes. Takaei glared at the girl behind the counter before it softened, and he sighed before smiling at Sasori and ignoring the water building up behind his eyes.

"I'll tell you when we get home, come on, I'm sure Grandpa Ebizo is worried sick right now…" Takaei lied, taking Sasori's hand and softly leading him away from the dango shop towards their home.

"But what about mom and dad?" Sasori asked in disappointment.

"They've been delayed, they needed to defend some villagers from bandits, like the heroes they are," Takaei explained and, while he did look disappointed, Sasori understood and continued on with Takaei in silence. As Takaei looked down at the young boy, he made a decision, he would protect his brother with everything he had, even his life if need be. He wouldn't let Konoha take anyone else from him.

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Chiyo was walking down the halls of her large house in silence. Her daughter and her son-in-law had both returned to the village today, though it was a much more somber afair than she had wished it to be. She knew the details of how they had died, Konoha had grown tired of the constant border skirmishes and had sent the White Fang of Konoha in along with several jounin to wipe out their outposts. Konoha had succeeded in destroying nine of the ten outposts, but the final one succeeded in driving the invaders off with poison and blood.

This had been an unprecidented act of agression from Konoha killing 240 Suna nin, 20 Konoha nin, and 150 Tanigakure nin. The Third Kazekage himself would be going to the border with over 2,000 Suna nin to let Konoha know that this act will not go unanswered. It was a bluff, but Sunagakure could only hope that Konoha backed down before this led to an all out war.

Chiyo grumbled that she wouldn't mind the chance to kill the White Fang, but she knew that Suna could not actually do anything against Konoha and their clans. Her thoughts were interupted when she heard sobs and sniffles from Sasori's room. She hesitantly headed towards the room and cracked it open slightly, careful to make no noise. On the only bed in the room was her adopted grandson Takaei, who she was sure would make an excellent ninja, with his arm around Sasori's sobbing form.

"Why?! Why did they have to die?!" Sasori sobbed, clutching Takaei's shirt like it was the only thing keeping him alive.

"I don't know Sasori, I don't know. But they died the noblest death they could, they died protecting us from the Konoha ninja, they died so that the village can live and survive another day," Takaei said softly, tears trailing down his face as well. Poor boy… he had already lost his original parents, and now he lost the ones who raised him. Three of them had even died from the demons of Konoha.

"R-really? They died protecting us?" Sasori asked softly. At Takaei's nod, Sasori sniffled and tried to wipe away his tears with a hand. "They… they were heroes, weren't they nii-chan?"

"Yes, they were…" Takaei said, the two keeping silent for a few minutes before Sasori finally fell asleep, Takaei softly laying him down on the bed without another word. He got up from his sitting position on the bed and walked towards the door as softly as possible, trying not to wake Sasori as he left the room. Chiyo moved out of the way as Takaei softly shut the door behind him and jumped when he laid his eyes on Chiyo.

"G-grandma Chiyo! I thought you were still developing that new poison!" Takaei yelled, almost falling in shock. Chiyo simply smiled softly and put her hand on his shoulder.

"That was a brave thing you did boy, you should have told me you knew and let me help… but you were still brave. How did you know?" Chiyo asked questionably, looking at Takaei in confusion.

Takaei looked at his feet and responded quietly, "We read the note the kazekage sent you. It said that mom and dad's bodies were being returned. I know what that means, but I was too scared to explain it to Sasori, and I knew that you were already hurting so I didn't want to bother you… but…" Takaei said, tears falling from his eyes faster and faster. Chiyo finally broke down and bent down to engulf Takaei in a hug, his small form shaking and clinging onto her poncho as his wails filled the hallway.

"It's not fair! It's not fair! I know they're shinobi, but why?! Why did THEY have to die?! Why does Konoha have to take everyone I love?!" he yelled, his grip tightening onto Chiyo as the poor boy got angrier and angrier. Eventually he calmed down and he and Chiyo were the only ones in the hallway, grieving for family taken too soon.

"Who did it?" Takaei asked in an oddly serious voice.

"Takaei, don't-" Chiyo began before being interupted.

"Who did it?!" Takaei yelled, tears falling again, but this time in anger.

Chiyo sighed and looked at the boy in a considering way before eventually opening her mouth, "It was Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha."

"I'll make him pay… I won't rest until he is dead… and then no-one will dare attack Sunagakure again."

Chiyo was shocked for only a second before a frown appeared on her face, "You'll have to train every day for most of your life if you want to be even close to his level. Are you sure that you want to take this path in life?"

"Yes, please help me Grandma, I don't want to just sit by while more and more people are killed by Konoha."

Chiyo sighed before nudging the boy over towards his own room down the hall. "Fine, tomorrow we'll start your training, but don't think this will get you out of the academy, you'll still have to go to that first."

Takaei nodded and hugged Chiyo a little tighter, "Thanks Grandma, I'll make Suna proud, I promise." He then turned around and walked towards his room, sniffling every few seconds in grief.

"Foolish boy, you've already made this village proud…" she muttered before turning around to face the presense behind her. "What is it Ebizo?"

"Do you think it's wise to push a child towards the path of vengeance sister?" her brother, Ebizo asked, raising one of those steadily growing eyebrows. He wore the custom Suna outfit, a dark loose fitting cloak complete with a white poncho and was standing in front of Chiyo with his arms crossed. "I know that you're grieving but this? This seems a bit much."

Chiyo simply scoffed and glared at her brother, "What do you know of grief fool? The boy needs something to focus his own grief on, I'll drown myself in work and now he'll train to be a strong ninja. Also, did you see his eyes? If I didn't focus his grief on something specific, he would have attempted to take on the entire Hidden Leaf Village singlehandedly! Don't you dare say that this was a bad decision when you don't even know what you're talking about!" Chiyo huffed, before being grabbed by her brother and feeling a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I apologize, I know that I can't understand what it's like to lose a child. I hope I never do. But I do know what it's like to lose a wife. Just know, that if you ever need me, I'll be there. I mean, what else are brothers for?" he said kindly, smiling at Chiyo's shocked face.

"Fool, like I need your comfort," Chiyo scoffed, marching down the hall towards her room, yet the insult was said with fondness and she was sure that Ebizo got the message. ' _Thank you, brother, but I'll be fine_ '. Ebizo simply smiled at her retreating form and turned around himself, Chiyo wasn't the only one who had work to do after all.

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 **AN: Anddddd cut! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Suna's Wind Demon! Next up, we'll see Takaei begin his training with Lady Chiyo as well as the beginnings of the Second Shinobi World War. Please rate and review this story and I'll see you all next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other anime. All rights belong to their respective owners.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **storm dragon king: Thank you! I plan on continuing this story until I am finished.**

 **Levin Kluge: Thanks! Sasori does start working with puppets soon, but the story will mainly focus around Takaei with Sasori playing a decent sized role.**

 **Heart: Ah, shit you're right. Don't worry, I fixed that as soon as you reviewed. Thank you for pointing that out for me and please tell me if you find any more mistakes in the future and I will quickly fix them.**

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"Now then… will you please demonstrate the three basic jutsu?" the instructor of the Sunagakure Academy asked, looking at the person in front of him with disinterest. According to the file, the boy's name was Takaei Okabe, the adopted grandson of the legendary Sand Siblings. The instructor simply sighed quietly, no doubt the boy will act like he deserves the world like the other protégé that graduated from a prestigious family.

"Yes sir," Takaei answered with a bow. That was definitely new. The boy made two hand seals before putting them in a final tiger seal and causing a copy of him to appear beside him. The instructor hummed to himself before circling the copy and scratching his chin. He eventually nodded and checked off a box on his checkboard, no words or smoke to accompany the technique showed that he had been practicing religiously since he was shown the technique, though the hand seals were something he would have to work on.

"Next," the instructor said, pulling a small cloth out of his chunin flak jacket and clearing his glasses. He was a plain man with a plain job, but he did not want to be in the academy any longer than necessary, better to get through with the applicants quickly. The instructor grabbed a stapler on the desk he was leaning on and put it on the group, raising a black eyebrow at the hopeful student.

Takaei did not bother responding, his face showing pure determination as he pointed a finger at the cup. 'Strange,' the instructor thought as he checked another box. 'Most students are barely able to conjure a stable chakra string with their whole palm, yet he was able to not only create one, but cause the stapler to levitate for several seconds. Not surprising from Lady Chiyo's grandson I suppose.'

"And the final one?"

Takaei smiled slightly, which confused the instructor. The final jutsu in the ninjutsu test was a D-rank jutsu of the student's choosing. This forced many of the students to train for at least 3 more years before attempting the graduation test at the youngest possible age, 7. However, Takaei did not falter as he performed several hand seals before pointing his hands at the padded wall to the right of the two people.

"Wind style! Wind Senbon Jutsu!" he yelled, wincing as five small senbon made of wind chakra shot into the pad, embedding themselves inside of it. The instructor nodded slightly, marking the final checkbox on his checkboard. The Wind Senbon Jutsu was an assassination jutsu taught to students to prepare them for stronger wind style jutsu late down the line. The students had a choice between a defensive or offensive jutsu of any element or no element. According to previous tests, Takaei had the wind element, that would come in handy if he chose to join the new War Fan Corp.

"Very good, Takaei, it seems you've passed the graduation exam. Go to your former classroom tomorrow at 0800 for your headband. Congratulations, and make Sunagakure proud."

Takaei smile was so bright, the instructor was sure that the sun had conceived a secret child. Luckily for him, the excited boy quickly left with a loud "Thank you!" and exited the classroom so fast that the only evidence that the boy had been there was a cloud of dust in his wake. He chuckled slightly to himself before calling in the next student, that boy was truly going to be something.

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Takaei felt like cheering as he ran through the village streets, waving at every person who passed him by. This was the happiest he had been in years, after 3 years of hell he would finally be a shinobi! There was absolutely nothing that could bring him down from this overwhelming sense of happ-

"Hey," a monotone voice cut off his inner monologue as he stopped in his tracks and turned towards the voice's owner. In front of him was the Kazekage's only son, Rasa Ayumu. The boy had been hostile to him ever since he joined the academy, and that feeling had only increased as time went on, Takaei constantly being a threat to his position as "Rookie of the Year".

"What do you want?" Takaei asked, glaring at the boy. At least he didn't look like a second rate Kenjiro-sama, wearing a simple black jacket and pants instead of the robe before.

"I suppose you passed from that idiotic display you showed on the way here. Honestly, I expected a future shinobi to be much more mature…" Rasa observed with a dismissive tone, looking down at Takaei. Takaei simply glared before a smirk slowly formed on his face.

"What? Are you just jealous that I graduated on my first try? What about you, did you fail again?" Takaei laughed when Rasa blushed and glared balefully at him. Rasa, being a year older than him, had tried to graduate the previous year, but he had failed the taijutsu test, having put his full focus on the ninjutsu portion. Takaei did not blame him for that, he would have failed for the same reason if Chiyo hadn't noticed and increased his training ten-fold. Though, any opportunity to antagonize the brat was a good one, even hypocritical ones.

"Shut up! I passed at the top of my class! Don't say another word unless you want to be crushed!" he growled out, attracting the attention of several passerby as he began forming hand seals.

"Fine! Have it your way!" he yelled back, forming hand seals of his own. The two were only seconds from finishing the jutsu before a rock hit them both in the head, causing them to fall to the ground in a heap.

"Ow… who the hell did tha-" Rasa finished yelling with a squeak that Takaei was sure he would deny later. A large shadow covered both of them as Takaei looked at a demon with flames burning behind her, her eyes a deep red as her ponytail flared in the wind.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" she asked with a calm voice, cracking her knuckles.

"P-Pakura!" Takaei screeched, rubbing the back of his head and chuckling slightly, before trailing off at her clearly unamused face. "W-well you see… we were just um… just…"

"Showing each other the jutsu we learned! It wouldn't do for future comrades to not know each others' jutsu! How else would we work… ugh… work together?" Rasa continued, his voice straining at the end of his sentence.

"I see…" the young girl said softly, her kekkai genkai fading behind her as she glared at them both. "Look, I understand that you don't like each other, but it is clearly stated in the shinobi rulebook that fighting in the village is outlawed! And you two can't go to a training field yet since you aren't shinobi, so you can't fight there either! Just because you two are from some big time families doesn't mean that you can get away with anything!" she growled, glaring at Rasa pointedly.

Rasa simply huffed, the danger gone for now, before turning and walking away. "Whatever, I'll see you two at the graduation ceremony. Don't get used to it though, when I'm kazekage, trash like you won't be allowed to be shinobi…"

Pakura sighed as he eventually left the two children's sights, shaking her head in disappointment, "I swear… how a guy like that can be the son of Kazekage-sama is beyond me." Takaei nodded in agreement before his smile returned full force. Pakura had been simultaneously his best friend and worst nightmare for the past 3 years, being the only person he could turn to when the "great Rasa-sama" got on his last nerves. She had long green hair tied in a ponytail with twin orange streaks framing her face. Her browns eyes were pupil less, perhaps because of her kekkai genkai, and her outfit consisted of a sleeveless black shirt along with long black pants.

"Who knows, must be adopted," Takaei chuckled, the chuckle turning into a full blown laugh with Pakura's shocked gaze.

"Takaei! How rude! Aren't you adopted? Why make it an insult?" Pakura asked, still looking like Takaei just said he'd conquer the world.

"Heh heh, to see your face. Funniest thing all day," Takaei chuckled, before yelping as Pakura shoved him with a huff. The two kept silent for a few seconds before laughing at their childishness, they wouldn't be able to do things like that for much longer.

"So, how do you think you did on the test Takaei?" Pakura asked, helping the boy up as he dusted himself off. He pretended to think about it for a few seconds, adopting the same pose he's had since birth, before smirking with his finger pointed to the sky.

"Top of the class! You should have seen the instructor's face when I showed him my wind jutsu, it was amazing," Takaei smiled, walking with Pakura back to his original destination.

"Jutsu isn't everything, if it was then I'd be worshipped instead of Rasa," she smiled sadly, conjuring a fire ball in her hand with her Scorch Style. She was something that the shinobi world had not seen in quite some time, a completely new bloodline instead of an old one simply passed down. Ever since she was born, she had been bombarded with marriage and engagement requests from everyone under the sun, and it had only gotten worse after her parents were killed by Iwa shinobi up north.

"Hey now, I don't know, I don't think Rasa's fan club could hold a candle to yours…" Takaei teased, chuckling slightly at her blush. "Besides, you're much more than just a little bloodline, freaky fireballs or not, you're still just Pakura to me."

"Heh, thanks Takaei, but next time you try to cheer me up, try not to call my fireballs 'freaky' yea?" she muttered, blushing as Takaei's laughs got harder. The two continued walking in companionable silence until they reached Takaei's house, Pakura's only a little ways up the road.

"Well, it's been nice walking with you, I'll see you tomorrow when we finally become genin… and I get one step closer to my goal," Takaei said with determination, Pakura smiling softly before leaving Takaei, saying something about luck? Takaei didn't understand wh-

"Takaei-nii-chan!" Sasori yelled as a flying wooden… thing… barreled into him with a small child on top. Sasori had been understandably devastated when he learned his parents weren't coming back, but he was able to get through it thanks to a combined effort of Takaei, Chiyo, and Ebizo, though he still stayed quiet and sad most of the time. The only exceptions are when he either gets to train with his family, or when he creates a new puppet, he really has a gift.

"Hey Sasori, you have a new puppet already? It hasn't even been a month yet…" Takaei muttered in amazement, usually it took puppet builders months to create a completely new puppet, but for Sasori it barely took any time at all.

"Yep! I call her Karasu version 1.0!" Sasori said proudly, as he began listing off the numerous secret weapons on the contraption. It was a bulky humanoid puppet with six eyes, multiple arms, and sharp teeth along with spikey hair.

"It looks awesome, how long did it take you to create it?" Takaei asked, genuinely amazed.

"Well, I spent two weeks thinking of the design and weapons and then another two weeks building the prototype, which was the other puppet you were thinking about, and then I spent four weeks perfecting the design and building it," Sasori said quickly, Takaei barely being able to understand him as he began talking faster and faster about possible improvements and future designs. He was glad that he found something to occupy his time, but he worried his obsession with puppets went too far sometimes.

"Yes, Sasori really does love those puppets of his. Maybe one day we'll be using his puppets in the Puppet Brigade," Chiyo said in an amused tone, walking towards the two brothers before ruffling Sasori's hair affectionately. Sasori simply nodded rapidly in excitement before rushing back into the house with his new puppet, cheering the entire time.

"That child… so how did the graduation go Takaei? If you failed I'm going to have to increase the torture you know…" Chiyo threatened darkly, making Takaei shiver in fear.

"No, no, that's fine Grandma, I aced the exam! I might have even defeated that idiot Rasa…" Takaei muttered before having his head slapped.

"Fool! That's the kazekage's son, you can't talk about him that way!"

"But you talk about the kazekage and the other villagers all the time!" Takaei countered before ducking under another head slap.

"That's because I'm important to the village, I can talk like that to them all I like. It's idiotic to badmouth your future kazekage when you're not even a genin yet," Chiyo grumbled before smiling softly. "Though… I think I'll let it slide since you did so well in the exam, now go and eat up, I already put food on the table. Don't tell anyone though, they might think I'm actually nice."

As Takaei left grumbling about evil grandmothers, Chiyo laughed before smiling sadly. She wished that the three of them could stay like this forever, with Sasori surprising them with his puppets and Takaei happily talking about his day after he comes back home. She would do anything to protect their innocence, but she knew that they would be shinobi soon and have to cast that aside. Oh well, if she couldn't protect their innocent, she would damn sure protect their lives.

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Takaei fidgeted in his seat as more and more academy students filtered into the classroom, eying him strangely as they found their own seats. The classroom was relatively simple, with 30 seats in a 5 by 6 formation, giving all of the students a relatively clear view of the board up front and allowing the teacher to walk by every desk to make sure everyone was doing as instructed. The walls and floor were as dull as the sands that covered the area that could be seen through the window, which made most days very boring when your grandma accidentally taught you most of the academy's material. Being in the same classroom for two straight hours really made you pay more attention…

Takaei was broken out of his thoughts by a few forceful pokes to one of his crossed arms. He rolled his eyes and looked to his right to see half the class staring at him while Pakura continued to poke him with a concerned expression. Even Rasa looked worried in the far back of the class.

"What is it Pakura?" Takaei asked in a tired voice, he hadn't gotten much sleep the past night, too excited to finally receive his headband and be known as a Suna shinobi. He would have nightmares of Chiyo's rage at seeing him stay up so long for years…

"It's fine everyone! It's not a genjutsu!" Pakura yelled to the rest of the class, receiving many cheers and applause.

"What was that about?" he asked the amused Pakura as she sat down in the desk next to Takaei.

"You're so early that we were all convinced you were a genjutsu. I'm pretty sure you were late for 90% of the year, the other 10% was when I told you class started an hour early so that you would get here on time," Pakura snickered, no doubt remembering Takaei's face when he realized her master plan.

"Ha ha, I can be on time sometimes you know…"

"Lady Chiyo sent you here early so you wouldn't be late, didn't she?" Pakura asked smugly, snickering even harder at Takaei's pout as he laid his head down on the desk.

"You're so mean, Pakura," Takaei mumbled as Pakura laughed. Finally, the instructor entered and glared at every person in the classroom.

"Attention everyone! In this box I hold all of your headbands, I hold your entire future, as long as I have this box, I own you," the instructor, Daisuke-sensei, said with a harsh tone, gesturing towards the nondescript box he had laid on his desk. Takaei gulped as he laid his elbows on his desk, clenching his hands tightly.

"However, I will not be giving these to you just yet…" Daisuke went on with a smirk, his brown eyes practically shining with glee, "You see, there is another test that potential genin are not told about." Before he could continue, multiple voices screamed out protests, causing Daisuke to growl and slam one of his fists on the desk he was leaning on.

"Enough!" he yelled, causing many students to quiet down with a whimper, "You all have the skills necessary to become genin! But your sensei will discover whether or not you can use those skills efficiently enough to classify as a genin! Also, they will find out if you have the necessary mindset to become a shinobi. Those who can not use their skills efficiently will be sent back to the academy or will enter the "genin training program" where they will be trained to enter the Genin Corp. Those who do not demonstrate the necessary mindset will be… conditioned," Daisuke said with an evil smile, "there is no quitting the shinobi program, you all know a jutsu that belongs to Sunagakure, you have made your bed and it is time to lie in it."

Some students gulped at that but Takaei's iron clad grip on his hands loosened slightly. That meant that no matter how he did on the "new test", he would become a shinobi. Still, it would be better to have an actual sensei instead of learning on the job like many in the Genin Corp were forced to do. Daisuke continued talking about the pride of Suna and how the students were expected to lay their lives on the line for the village if need be, but Takaei was barely paying any attention until he finally pulled out a slip of paper from the box with the headbands.

"Alright, now we will get to our real purpose in coming here," Daisuke said with disinterest, shaking the list to get some sand off of it, it really got everywhere, and saying the names on the list. "Team 1 will be Emi Etsuko, Hibiki Ayano, and Kaito Katsu, your sensei will be Karen Katsu," he said, Kaito cheering at getting her father as a sensei, and the other two students seeming accepting of their team. That's how most of the teams went, and Takaei tuned most of them out until Daisuke finally reached team 5.

"Team 5 will be Takaei Okabe."

'Here it comes…' Takaei thought, fidgeting even more.

"Pakura Oribe."

'Yes!' Takaei practically screamed in his head, smiling at Pakura, all of his nervousness gone. She smiled back at him and gave him a thumbs up before looking back towards the instructor. Takaei simply leaned back in his desk, confident in his team. He didn't necessarily dislike many people in the class, and even if he did, he was sure Pakura's presence could override theirs.

"And finally Rasa Ayumu, your sensei will be Ebizo Okabe," Daisuke said with a small smirk as a man with long eyebrows and a turban covering his head. He wore a dark colored cloak with a white poncho around his shoulders like his sister wore. He also had two katanas strapped to his back and multiple scrolls strapped to his waist. He grabbed the three headbands from Daisuke and they vanished into one of his sleeves.

'Wait… what?!'

"Lord Ebizo!" Rasa almost yelled as he stood up from his desk, only receiving a raised eyebrow for his outburst. "Surely there must be some mistake! Why would I be paired with… him?!"

"Be patient and I'll tell you later, just because you're the kazekage's son doesn't mean that I'll waste everyone else's time soothing your ego," Ebizo said, completely ignoring Rasa's outraged expression. "Meet me in ten minutes at Training Ground 18, it's right behind my house. If anyone is late, you will all be sent to the Genin Corp, so I suggest you hurry."

Ebizo then disappeared in a swirl of sand, leaving the three genin to stare at the front of the class in shock. They stood like that for several seconds before Daisuke cleared his throat and pointed towards the door, "I do not believe Lord Ebizo was kidding when he said he would fail you if you were late. Understandable, a late shinobi is a worthless shinobi after all. Nevertheless, you're interrupting the other applicants so leave before I escort you out."

Pakura bowed in response before grabbing Takaei and leaving the classroom, "My apologies Daisuke-sensei, we will be leaving immediately." Daisuke simply nodded in response, moving out of the way as Pakura drug a struggling Takaei followed by a glaring Rasa.

"Why are you dragging me?! I know where Uncle Ebizo's house is you know?!" Takaei yelled, trying, and failing, to rip Pakura's hand off the back of his shirt.

"Yes, but I will not fail because you were late again. Would you rather I hand you off to Rasa?" she asked in an annoyed tone. She obviously had not liked the way the team was set up either.

Takaei took one look at the glaring future kazekage and turned back to Pakura with a deadpan expression, "I rather like living thank you. Can I at least walk besides you? I'll be in your sight at all times, I swear."

Pakura sighed before releasing the struggling boy and walking ahead, "Fine, what could go wrong?"

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Ebizo sighed as he looked up at the sun with a disappointed face. It seemed as if Chiyo had wasted his time yet again. He had hoped to be done with being a sensei after the… unfortunate events that occurred with his last genin team, but Chiyo had convinced the kazekage himself to ask him to take on this team. However, it seemed like it was all for naught as it had been exactly 9 minutes and 45 seconds since he told the students to meet him at the training ground.

He sighed, longer this time, as he turned away from the vast sand dunes visible on the plateau behind his house and turned towards his actual house, raising an eyebrow as three forms appeared from the side of the house. One was a young plain looking boy with his blond hair and brown eyes, his 'grandnephew' as Chiyo had put it once, Ebizo had to resist the urge to scoff at the ridiculous title. Right behind his running form, he had some speed at least, were two furious children, one with mostly green hair with orange bangs and brown eyes, and the other with auburn hair and dark eyes. Combined, the three students made up the "Sunagakure Prodigies" as people were beginning to call them.

'Well,' he thought as the three children arrived exactly at ten minutes, 'Let's see how much that title is worth…'

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Takaei laid his palms on his knees, panting as he had finally reached Ebizo, his two future teammates right behind him. He felt a slap on the back of his head and almost fell face first onto the ground, righting himself just in time.

"How?! How did you manage to get lost when both of us were watching you?! It shouldn't be possible!" Rasa ground out, his eyes burning holes into the back of Takaei's head. He must have really messed up if Pakura of all people didn't stop Rasa's attack.

"I told you! I saw a dog barking at me and assumed that it was sent for help! How was I supposed to know it just wanted to play?!"

"That still doesn't mean you should have actually played with it idiot!"

"Children," Ebizo said in a stern voice, causing both Takaei and Rasa to stop their argument and look towards their sensei, standing straight and still as a statue. "Good, it seems you at least know how to address your superiors, now all three of you, sit down."

The three children sat down so fast that dust spread out from under them. Ebizo simply rolled his eyes and glared at the three of them for a few seconds before speaking, "Let me be clear, I did not and do not want to be your sensei. I dislike proteges, especially when they're just riding the curtails of their name like you two," Ebizo said with distaste, gesturing towards Rasa and Takaei both.

"Neither of you have earned your names yet, you may never be able to. The only way any of you will be able to amount to anything is if I become your sensei. We have rankings in this village and I am the fifth strongest ninja according to those rankings, the only ones stronger being the kazekage, his teammate, my former sensei, and Chiyo. If I become your sensei I will train you, I will break you, and I will rebuild you all into the strongest three shinobi the village has ever seen. Is that understood?" he asked, not continuing until the three children nodded hesitantly. "Good, your mission is simple. Listen closely because I will not be repeating it anytime soon, you have exactly one hour to touch me. I don't care how you do it as long as you do, you have five minutes to prepare before we start, now go."

Takaei looked towards Pakura and then Rasa and widened his eyes as Rasa simply charged forward with a kunai, aiming straight for Ebizo's head. Ebizo rolled his eyes and drew his swords, slicing through the kunai with wind chakra and using the flat of the other blade to slap Rasa across the face, sending him many yards away.

"That was an awful place to aim child, I could have simply ducked and killed you from below. The chest is a much better area to charge, even if you miss the heart you may still hit something. Anyway, since you attacked I must assume that you are all ready to fight."

"Wait! That was his decision! We aren't ready yet!" Pakura yelled. Takaei widened his eyes, he had never heard Pakura sound so panicked before. Ebizo simply shrugged and glared down at her frightened form.

"So? Imagine if this was a stealth mission, you can't simply ask the enemy to wait a few more minutes because your teammate betrayed your position. Don't worry, these lessons will be useful when you fail and join the Genin Corp," Ebizo smirked before sheathing his swords and making two simple hand signs and speaking in a confident tone, "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough."

Panicked, Takaei quickly conjured a chakra string and attached it to Pakura's back, pulling with all his strength to get her out of the way of the blast. However, he was a second too late as the shockwave pushed the rapidly approaching body even faster, making her ram directly into Takaei, tossing them both only a few feet from Rasa's bruised form.

"Good idea, horrible execution," Ebizo said bluntly, crossing his arms and glaring over towards the children, "How disappointing of so called 'proteges', maybe I overestimated you three. How about this? I won't move from this spot, not even to make hand seals or block, all you have to do is land an actual hit," he continued, allowing his arms to drop to his sides.

Rasa shakily got up before growling and charging towards Ebizo once move, ignoring Takaei's cry of 'No! Don't' "Don't underestimate me bastard!" he yelled, throwing three kunai from each hand and making hand seals as they flew towards his opponent. He eventually finished his many hand seals and smiled darkly at the frowning Ebizo, "Having an extra year to train gave me a perfect opportunity to perfect this jutsu, as much as I hate it. Have a taste of your own medicine, Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" he yelled pushing the palms of his hands forward as he stopped, causing all of the kunai to fly towards Ebizo at much higher speeds.

"Clever," Ebizo deadpanned, "but not clever enough," he said only seconds before the kunai hit. All Takaei saw was the flash of metal and many strings of light blue as something intercepted the kunai before they could hit Ebizo, stopping them dead in their tracks. As the dust settled from the fast technique, Takaei's eyes bulged at what he saw. There were at least 30 chakra strings coming out of his uncle's sleeves, each having a kunai on the end of them. They had wrapped around the hilts of the kunai and the blunt side of the kunai had blocked the points of them, causing them to stop immediately. "Thank you for adding to my arsenal, it is greatly appreciated," Ebizo said smugly, more chakra strings appearing from his sleeves and attaching to the kunai.

"H-how is that possible?" Takaei whispered, gaining Pakura's attention from the confrontation.

"He's a jounin, and one of the strongest shinobi in the village at that. This is the kind of power they wield."

"No!" Takaei yelled, shocking Pakura and gaining the attention of everyone in the plateau. Takaei stood up and glared at Ebizo, "Even Grandma Chiyo has to move her hands to use chakra strings, and she is the best puppeteer in the world!"

"I'm not. Defeat me and I'll tell you how child," Ebizo smiled, the now forty metal weapons surrounding Ebizo like a shell, half facing Rasa and half facing Takaei.

Takaei simply growled and glared at the lying shinobi. "Pakura, back me up, I'm going to use my jutsu to distract some of the kunai, I need you to take out some of the others with your Scorch Style."

"What are we going to do then? He'll just bring the rest around to interrupt us, we're not fast enough to go through any hole we'd make," Pakura said, still hesitant. Takaei looked at her and saw actual fear in her eyes, not that he blamed her, Ebizo seemed so overwhelming. "Look Pakura, we need to do this. If we end up in the Genin Corp, our careers are done. I'll never achieve my dream and you'll never achieve yours. Even if you do start a clan after that, they'll only remember you as the clan head who failed the genin test, are you willing to let them do that?" Takaei asked, not paying any attention to Pakura's shocked expression. She blushed slightly and growled standing and stomping to Takaei's side, ready to charge forward at a moments notice.

"I don't think I've ever seen you actually serious Takaei. Are you sure this isn't a genjutsu?" she smirked, causing Takaei to roll his eyes.

"God, I hope not, that would add a whole new layer of impossible to this fight. Anyway, you ready?"

"Yea," she nodded, still slightly hesitant but willing to try Takaei's plan.

"Okay, let's go! Wind Style: Wind Senbon!" Takaei yelled, pushing more chakra than usual in the attack. Seven senbon flew towards Ebizo at breakneck speeds, though they were less accurate and looked less refined than usual. Before the senbon even reached the unimpressed Ebizo, Pakura dashed by the weapons that had moved to intercept Takaei's jutsu and made her own hand seals as many of the weapons began to surround her.

"Scorch Style: Flare Explosion!" she yelled spreading her arms out as he chakra flared around her in a red hot ball of flame ten feet wide. The fire retracted, revealing several burnt kunai on the dusty ground, the chakra stings having been burned off, as well as a panting Pakura in the middle of a small cradle, having fallen to one knee during the exchange.

Takaei, having begun running towards Ebizo as soon as he sent the senbon, finally came close enough to Ebizo to jump towards him, his fist reared back and prepared for a punch. However, as soon as he threw his arm out, more chakra strings appeared form Ebizo's sleeves, catching Takaei by his arm and body, suspending him in the air as Ebizo smirked below him.

"You came close, but unfortunately you were unable to defeat me," Ebizo said in a mocking tone. "So much for 'Sunagakure's Great Proteges"."

"Think again," Rasa said, having flanked Ebizo while he was distracted with the other two children. He threw his final three kunai towards Ebizo, Takaei gritting his teeth as Ebizo adopted that all too familiar smirk, and then suddenly losing it. Two lone kunai on chakra strings came to his aid as he blocked two of the kunai like he did before, raising his hand and catching the final kunai with a severe frown. He sighed in disappointment as he allowed the two kunai, as well as Takaei, to fall to the ground.

"Congratulations, you pass," Ebizo said in disappointment. Rasa did not seem to hear him and Ebizo simply dodged his next lunge, holding him by the back of his shirt before using chakra strings to hold him in the air as he continued to try and grab Ebizo.

"Quit fighting you idiot, I said you passed," Ebizo growled, glaring at the kazekage's son.

"No we haven't, we still haven't defeated you!" Rasa yelled, meeting Ebizo's glare with his own.

Ebizo rolled his eyes and 5 times as many chakra strings flowed out of his sleeves, accompanied by puffs of smoke that heralded kunai, surrounding the three children in front of him while still offering him some defense. Wind flowed by the occupants of the plateau and made Ebizo's sleeves move back, showing that all of the chakra strings came from one thick chakra string coming out of his palm, splitting into several separate ones to hold as many kunai as possible. The amount of control for that must be astronomical… Ebizo raised a hand, somehow not moving the kunai, and stared down all of the students.

"Let me tell you of my abilities now that you have passed the test," Ebizo said gruffly, sitting down in a cross legged form, Takaei and Pakura following suit while Rasa struggled in the air, "I know multiple ninjutsu and genjutsu, but I am not even mid-jonin level with any, barring one. My true skills lie in taijutsu and kenjutsu, and there are few who can match me. What you just saw is one of my signature techniques, Suna Style: Flying Kunai Storm. Do you know why I am telling you all this?" he asked.

Pakura shakily raised her hand, intimidated by the many kunai still surrounding them, "T-to show us that we could never defeat you?" she asked.

Ebizo frowned and nodded slightly, "Correct, if not a bit pessimistic, though that is a good trait in a ninja… However, it is not the only reason, any other guesses?"

"To show us that you can protect us from anyone we meet?" Takaei asked, tilting his head questionably. He knew that Ebizo saw him look at all the kunai worriedly, but he didn't think he cared.

He didn't. "That's also correct, know that no matter what, I can get us out of many situations. Rasa? What do you think?" he asked, pushing a few kunai closer to the boy to get his attention.

Rasa glared down at the smirking Ebizo before sighing, defeated. Noticing that he was no longer struggling, Ebizo slowly lowered him down to the ground, where he promptly sat down on next to Pakura. "To show us what we'll be learning? You're our sensei so you'll be teaching us mainly taijutsu and kenjutsu and, if we're good enough, you'll teach us your ultimate?" he asked, looking towards Ebizo questionably before looking back down.

"Hmm, an interesting observation. I will be teaching you all my taijutsu style and kenjutsu style, but I'm not trying to make you all a carbon copy of me. I'll be teaching you these things along with whatever I think you would make the most use of. I'm not the best at ninjutsu but I understand it enough and know enough of them to teach a few genin. Also, I will never teach any of you my ultimate jutsu. If you want to learn it, you'll have to reverse-engineer it, though I will assist you in the effort," Ebizo said in a dispassionate tone, obviously not looking forward to being a sensei.

"What?! But we're your students, you should be teaching us everyt-," Rasa was cut off by a slap to the back of the head by Pakura. Takaei was close to doing the same after he had seen the glare coming from Ebizo, that had been the same glare he had when he trapped him in the air.

"What I think our teammate was TRYING to say," Pakura began nervously as she sent a sideways glare to the grumbling Rasa. "Was that wouldn't it be more productive to simply teach us all of your skills so that we could better serve the village?"

Ebizo rolled his eyes but continued talking, ignoring Rasa's murderous expression like he had been doing all day, "I will teach you how to use chakra strings more efficiently, but I will not teach you my technique. Inventing it led to me improving my chakra control, reaction time, muscle control, and many other things that will be important during your shinobi career. It is much more productive to go through the process of inventing it, or reverse-engineering I suppose, than me simply telling you how to do it."

Takaei nodded slightly, that made sense in a convoluted sort of way. It wasn't like they would be able to use the technique as genin anyway, it would take them a long time until they were ready to use anything even remotely that strong.

"Anyway, Rasa, I believe you had some questions for me? I'll answer those before I report to your father," Ebizo said, motioning disinterestedly towards Rasa, as if he was an afterthought.

"What in the world were you all thinking when you put us together on a team?!" Rasa asked harshly, perfectly mirroring Takaei's thoughts. "I mean, surely you've seen the reports, I can't stand either of them!"

"Judging from the reports you can't stand anyone," Ebizo responded sarcastically before shrugging. "I don't suppose there is any harm telling you, you three are the 'hope' of Sunagakure. Takaei, you are the 'grandson' of THE Lady Chiyo as well as the son of Ichi and Hayate Seki, both powerful jounin in their own right. You also are the second highest student in your class, showing a remarkable amount of talent and determination. That said, you show a bad case of tunnel vision, not having a backup plan for your earlier attack being one example of many," he said.

"Pakura, you are potentially the founding member of a completely new clan filled with shinobi who can use your Scorch Style. This is not only wanted by Suna, this is NEEDED. We have one clan with a kekkai genkai, the kazekage's, this is a sign of weakness and has to be rectified in the future. Even if you weren't slotted to be a clan head, you are still a potentially powerful shinobi, having the top score in ninjutsu as well as a good score in taijutsu. However, you are hesitant to help yourself, always rushing to help other people as seen when you keep these two fools from fighting and getting expelled. You have to learn to focus on yourself."

"And finally we come to you… 'The Prince of Suna'," Ebizo deadpanned, turning his glare back to Rasa. "Top of your class in almost every field, only falling behind in ninjutsu to Pakura and accuracy to Takaei. The son of the Third Kazekage and potential wielder of Suna's only, well I should say former only, kekkai genkai. You are even likely to become the Fourth Kazekage based on the hereditary history of the village. However, you have two very large weaknesses. One, you're overconfident and expect everything to go your way. You tried to blow up the academy when they failed you last year, and you were still confident enough that you attacked the instructor. The only reason you aren't dead right now is because of your father, though I'm sure even his patience is thinning."

"And the second weakness?" Rasa growled, close to attacking Ebizo again. The boy had a real anger problem, though Takaei couldn't imagine why he would have any reason to be that way.

"You're a loner. While that is fine for jounin level, or even some chunin level, shinobi, that is a horrible trait to have as a genin. We're not Konoha by any means, thank God, but teamwork is still a tool that should be utilized. You chose to completely discard that tool when you charged at me, the fifth strongest shinobi in the village, without any backup or plan. If you hadn't caused me to move, I would have failed you already, I'm considering doing so now," Ebizo finished, allowing some of his killing intent to emit from his form, causing the three children to choke on air.

"Anyway, that's enough for today, meet me in this training ground at 0800 where we will begin training. We will then go to the Kazekage's office to grab a few missions. This will repeat until I deem you all worthy of taking on a harder mission. Goodbye," Ebizo said in the same toneless tone he had for most of the conversation. Halfway across the field he stopped and eyed the three children, no longer masking the disgust in his voice, "Also, Suna shinobi do not show fear," and with that, he was gone.

As soon as he left Rasa glared at both Takaei and Pakura with enough force to melt steel, "Don't get in my way next time, if it weren't for you weaklings then I would have been able to defeat him in minutes." Having said his piece, Rasa left to massage his bruised ego before either of his teammates could respond.

Takaei simply shrugged as he left and laid down onto his back staring at the sky. He had done it… he had finally become a Sunagakure shinobi. Now nothing could stand between him and his goal…

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"I still don't see why I have to be the one to teach them, aren't there other jounin who want the job?" Ebizo asked crossly, sitting across from Kenjiro in his office.

"Chiyo-sensei had asked me to… 'suggest' that you teach them all. I assume she did the same for you?" at Ebizo's nod, Kenjiro simply sighed and massaged his temple, "That woman… anyway do they show promise?"

"If they didn't show so much potential I would have failed them on principle alone. Rasa has no teamwork skills whatsoever, which will become a problem in the future if you want him as Kazekage, Pakura is too hesitant and reluctant to assert herself, though you can believe I will be fixing that soon, and Takaei, while showing basic planning skills, has the worst case of tunnel vision I have ever seen. It's like he can't imagine his plan ever failing or going awry, I'm worried that it will never go away, only fade slightly."

Kenjiro sighed and stared out the window of his office, frowning severely as he rubbed his chin. "Do you think they will be ready?"

"We'll see, we don't have much time after all."

"Very well, train them as hard as you can, we don't know when Konoha will finally declare war on us, and we'll need every soldier we can muster."

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 **AN: And Chapter 2 is now complete! I was always disappointed with how little they used Ebizo in the anime, if he has the same title as Chiyo you would think he would be nearly as powerful. I thought that since he is so old, he isn't as powerful as he used to be and so uses his mind instead and, unlike ninjutsu or genjutsu or any of that, taijutsu and kenjutsu skills do degenerate with age, so I thought it made sense. Next chapter will be Team 5's training, as well as the beginning of their first mission. Will they be able to become strong enough before Konoha invades? Only the future will tell.**

 **Extra AN: I really want to thank Heart for pointing out my huge mistake in the first chapter, but I didn't want to put too many words at the front. Sometimes I miss the really obvious mistakes in a chapter, so I really appreciate it whenever someone points out a mistake like that, so I can fix it as soon as possible and keep it from ruining the story. I'd like to ask you all to continue to tell me if I make a mistake like that and continue to rate and review so that I can know I'm doing something right, thank you and see you all next chapter!**


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